There simply weren’t enough seats to go around.
Thousands of people turned out for Senator Tom Cotton’s town hall in Springdale. But organizers had to turn away hundreds more.
When KNWA showed up at Springdale High School, over an hour before the town hall was set to kick off, the line to get into the Pat Walker Performing Arts Center was around the block.
The auditorium, which fits over 2,000 people, reached capacity quickly and the fire marshal began turning people away.Those that planned on getting inside watched the town hall on a live stream from the lawn of the high school.
However, people we spoke with were not angry about being left out. Instead, they were pleased that the people of Arkansas came out to voice their concerns to senator cotton.
“We started walking with our signs around the door and we just kept going and going and going, said Sarah Bunton, a woman who lives in Fayetteville. “We were just so surprised. We went around the building and came back again and saw a whole new line of people. So it’s very exciting to see so much support.”
“I think the turnout is fantastic,” said Luis Paganelli-Marin, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas. “It shows that you can be a patriot and still have dissenting views I think it’s great.”
When we stepped inside the auditorium, it was clear why the fire marshal had to keep the people from coming in.
There was a body in each seat and people were shoulder to shoulder in the aisles.
Everyone wanted to ask the senator a question, but due to time constraints, it simply wasn’t possible.
